ONE
"The rumors are indeed true everyone, Scarlett Gates is alive and well! Now isn't that something?" Jimmy Fallon announced followed by a huge round of applause. "She has agreed to come here tonight to set things straight, so here she is, Scarlett!"
Taking a deep breath, Scarlett put on her best smile and entered the set, concentrating her hardest on not tripping in her heels. Jimmy met her halfway, greeting her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She waved at the audience before taking her seat next to Jimmy's desk.
The cheering grew silent and all eyes were now completely on her. "Uh, hi." she began, unsure of how to act on television. "I'm Scarlett."
"I think we all knew that." Jimmy joked, smirking at the ghost girl. "Where do we begin, wow."
"Yeah," Scarlett chuckled uneasily, "I know this is a little crazy. Wow, dead girl isn't actually dead, so spooky."
"Scarlett."
"James."
Jimmy hid his smile and cleared his throat, "I think, America, no wait, the universe needs to know what the hell happened to you! One minute you're skipping around with One Direction then you suddenly disappear only to be pronounced dead just a few weeks later?"
"Uh, yeah.... surprise?" she quirked an eyebrow and plastered a grin on her lips.
"Why have you decided to come out of hiding now? After Zayn just told the world he is leaving the band? Why is this a good time to broadcast the truth to everyone?" Jimmy questioned, leaning closer to Scarlett.
"Well, um, how do I explain this?" Scarlett asked herself, tapping lightly on her chin. "I was sick, really, really sick in the head and I needed serious help. We decided it would be best if, maybe, I went away from the public eye."
"So you killed yourself off?" Jimmy asked, completely baffled.
"No! That's where the rumors started Jimmy. I was just supposed to slip away but people started saying that I was dead and all these crazy scenarios began in the media."
"You didn't answer the other question. Why was now the time to publicize that you're alive?" he repeated.
"I wasn't supposed to come back until early 2016, at least that's what we discussed in the original plan. But when the world believed I was dead the plan was thrown out the window and I was just going to stay on the down low and hope everyone would eventually forget about me." she explained. "Then about a week ago, I was at the airport and TMZ popped out of nowhere and immediately my face was back on tabloids and all over the internet."
"This scandal wasn't even a scandal to begin with is what you're trying to tell us, am I right?"
Scarlett nodded, "The media changed it all around.... the media basically killed me." The crowd laughed at her blunt statement and she let out a small giggle as well.
"This is insane." Jimmy spoke, shaking his head in disbelief. "Where have you been hiding?"
"Zayn bought an apartment a while ago after he told the band he needed time. There was an extra room and it was off the grid, so I hid there."
"Are you and Zayn...?"
"No! Oh my gosh, no." she gagged, "Never, ever. No, no, no. Dude, just the thought of him and I together is chilling. Disgusting. No."
"I think we get it." Jimmy laughed genuinely. "Thank you for coming on the show tonight, Scarlett, we all understand how difficult this must be to you."
"You can say I'm a little stressed." Scarlett agreed. "But it's no problem, this needed to be set straight and now it has. I'm alive and I was never dead."
"You heard it here first, 'The One Direction Scarlett Scandal' was never a scandal. Don't believe the internet!" he yelled. "Up next we have Steve Harvey who's going to be crushing some raw eggs on his pretty bald head! Don't go away!"
Jimmy turned to Scarlett once the cameras stopped rolling. "I'm glad you're better, darling. Your smile is quite contagious, you know, those cheek bones are insane."
Scarlett nodded and chuckled, "I get that a lot. Thank you so much for having me here."
Before Jimmy could respond he was dragged off to change into another suit for his next segment. Scarlett could feel that all eyes were still on her as she awkwardly walked backstage to meet with the publicist. She was sent a nod of approval by the woman she had known for 48 hours who was too busy on her Bluetooth to speak.
"Where am I going?" she whispered to herself as she walked aimlessly down hallways. In one room she found her belongings, which consisted of just her phone and a jacket with a few dollar bills in it. Scarlett wandered her way outside, walking down the empty, cold, dark streets of New York City.
She stopped at a small stand on the sidewalk, ordering a cup of hot chocolate and then continued on her journey back to the apartment with now two dollars less in her pocket. The cold air nipped at her skin causing her to move a tad bit faster so she could reach the flat sooner.
Her phone chimed in her pocket, which was odd since no one ever texts her this late. Once the screen lit up she saw that Niall had messaged her.
Good job Scar.
